What VMware Workstation does for the desktop, VMware ESX Server 2 does for the serverand then some. By virtualizing the server, VMware enables it to host multiple operating systems and multiple instances of each OS, with up to eight virtual servers per physical CPU. ESX Server 2 dynamically allocates CPU, disk, memory, and network I/O resources, so you can get more work done with fewer physical servers.

VMware Virtual SMP, an add-on to ESX Server 2, goes even farther, allowing a single virtual machine to span multiple processors, which can share the load of resource-intensive applications. Applications and virtual machines become portable and can even be moved among physical machines to guarantee service levels and ease maintenance tasks.

These two enterprise tools give mainframe-class power to an ordinary server rack. (VMware Inc., www.vmware.com.)